Qiao earned her B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley in political science, with an emphasis on comparative politics between China and the U.S. While in undergrad, Qiao spent a semester in Washington D.C. interning for the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, where she helped with research on workforce protection issues.

After graduating, Qiao spent a year and half working as a District Representative for Congressman Adam Schiff, where her tasks focused on providing assistance to constituents who are having troubles with a federal agency.

At UC Santa Barbara's MAGIS program Qiao hopes to emphasize in global governance and human rights. More specifically, Qiao is interested to study the experience of children whose parents have left rural China to take on a job in the globalizing economy, and what needs to be done to build a viable community for these children.